K'Nex Mario Kart blind-bagged figure decoder

Remember the Mario Kart K'Nex? The ones where King Koopa was packed one per case for some god-awful reason? Well, they're back, and they're better.

This time, there are seven characters instead of just four, and the casepacks are more sane. The only downside? They're blind bagged. D'oh! On the plus side, just like the earliest Lego Minifigure blindbags, there's a way to decipher what's inside.

On the back, above the UPC, is a serial number. The number itself doesn't matter - it must refer to different batches or something, because it has no bearing on the figure in the bag. What you want to look for is a thin line beneath one of the numbers: that line tells you which figure is which.

Mario

Bowser

Luigi

Yoshi

Donkey Kong

Toad

Diddy Kong

Remember, it's not the number that counts, but the position in the order. Here, see if you can puzzle it out: which figure was in this bag?

Here's a mnemonic device to help you remember the order:

"Mom barely loves you? Don't tell Daddy!"

Remember that sentence, count which number the small line is under, and you'll have the figure you want.

Look for the boxes in the same place as the last Mario bags: so TRU and Target, but probably not Walmart.

After a series based on Mario Kart, K'Nex is back with a series of New Super Mario Bros. Wii figures:

The bags are still coded, but this time it's a little more complex:

Mario – First Number Underlined Once

Blue Toad – First Number Underlined Twice

Fire Mario – Second Number Underlined Once

Princess Peach – Second Number Underlined Twice

Luigi – Third Number Underlined Once

Ice Luigi – Fourth Number Underlined Once

Yellow Yoshi – Fifth Number Underlined Once

Blue Yoshi – Sixth Number Underlined Once

Yellow Toad – Last Number Underlined Once

It's been a year since the original blind bags came out, and now there's a Series 2 of the New Super Mario Bros. Wii figures:

Mario (one line)/Daisy (two lines)

Wario

Peach

Dry Bones

Koopa Paratrooper

Shy Guy

Boo

If you want a mnemonic for this series,Medium waisted pants, double-knit suede blazer.

Series 3 trades in the tissue paper for clear bags, and the figures are ranked (on the side of the box) by rarity.

Bullet Bill – First Number Underlined Once

Cheep Cheep – First Number Underlined Twice

Mario – Second Number Underlined Once

Bowser – Third Number Underlined Once

Pink Yoshi – Fourth Number Underlined Once

Toad – Fifth Number Underlined Once

Diddy Kong – Sixth Number Underlined Once

Hammer Brother – Last Number Underlined Once

Cheep Cheep, Diddy and Bullet Bull are common, Mario, Toad and Yoshi are rare, and the Hammer Bro. and Bowser are elite.

Mario - first number underlined once

Waluigi - first number underlined twice

Luigi - second number underlined once

Bowser Jr. - third number underlined once

Green Toad - fifth number underlined once

Donkey Kong - sixth number underlined once

Bob-Omb - last number underlined once

Looks like Series 5 doesn't have any double-underline nonsense, just single lines under the following numbers:

Luigi

Toad

White Princess Peach

Goomba

White Tanooki Mario

Cheep Cheep

Cat Mario

Gold Mario

Fire Brother

Boo

Daisy

Tanooki Mario

Fox Luigi

Paragoomba

Boo and Paragoomba are common; Fox Luigi, Gold Mario, and Tanooki Mario are rare; and the Fire Brother and Daisy are elite.

Super Mario

Fire Mario

Bowser

Yoshi

Dry Bones

Goomba

Fox Luigi

Yoshi and Bowser are common; Fox Luigi and Goomba are rare; Dry Bones and the two Marios are elite.

Ice Luigi

Donkey Kong

Princess Peach

Toad

Green Yoshi

Diddy Kong

Bowser

Toad, Yoshi and Diddy are common; Donkey Kong and Bowser are rare; Ice Luigi and Princess Peach are elite.

Toad is pretty awesome! I didn't even consider that you could possibly army build him. That and Yoshi too. Anyone with a little customizing skill could easily make them different. Still have yet to pick up Yoshi & Luigi --- considering DK and Diddy. These are easily more fun to play with than the little PVC'ers --- and cheaper too!

I noticed that TRU had a 3-Pack of Diddy, DK, and Dixie for $10 --- which is actually a pretty decent buy considering they're what, like $4-$6 individually? They had 3-pks of Yoshis and Marios too.

FYI, this is totally legit; after almost a year of being bitter that people were selling Bowser on ebay at outlandish prices, I grabbed both him and Toad using at the store using the underlined number. Now that I know it works I'll be back for DK and Diddy tomorrow!

I found a Series 3 at TRU today! Didn't even know one was coming. This one adds a lot more bad guys to the mix: Koopa Paratroopa, Shy Guy, Princess Daisy, Wario, Boo, Princess Toadstool, Mario and Dry Bones. I only picked up Boo so far, because he's by far the easiest to find. You'll probably be able to pick his bag out by sight: it's the one with a giant round ball in it.

But just for the record, Boo's telltale underline is beneath the last number in the code...

On series 4 mini figures, Donkey Kong is an underscore on the 6th digit! Just need to buy an underscore on the 2nd or the 4th digit to work out which one is either Mario or Luigi, hope this helps, internet.

Want to know how dumb I am? I've been looking for Waluigi, but I thought it was the LAST number underlined twice, not the first one. So I kept digging through boxes looking for it, and I KNOW I passed up several of him because I'd forgotten what the right code was.

Also, Series 5 is out? Series 4 jsust started showing up about a month and a half ago! Gah!

Found Series 7 at Wal-Mart today. Unfortunately, it's more of the same. No new characters at all! Fox Luigi, Goomba, Dry Bones, Green Yoshi, Bowser, Fire Mario and believe it or not, Regular Mario again!!

So far, they've all been identical - it's just a way to get some figures back onto the market and into the hands of fans. So when they re-release Daisy, they don't bother changing her expression or anything; it's only when they do special costumes that the figures have any substantial differences...

Sorry I'm slightly confused. I have been looking at bags online for series 8 and the bag I have had different numbers. How can I know what's it my 8 bag if it had a line under the nine( but the nine is the last number, unlike others I have seen?) thanks!

The numbers themselves shouldn't matter: just the position of the line. So if the last number on a Series 8 is underlined (whether it's a 1, a 2, a 9, or even that symbol Prince named himself for a while), it should be a Bowser...

Thank you so much for putting up this information.. It's restarted a whole new love of figurine hunting and collecting. I'm up to about 30 figures (most from just this past April.) Keep up the good work <3

I saw a picture of series 9 with a Parabones being the only "new" figure but what's in wave 10? All the regular Goomba waves seemed to have missed my neck of the woods so I'd take a repack of that, Shy Guy (any color), or an Ice Bro any day.